Southern California -- this just in

More than 100 Apple Store customers are victims of follow-away burglaries in L.A. region

January 7, 2010 | 6:50
am

A group of thieves has been taking a big bite out of Apple Store
customers by purloining computers in more than 100 "follow away"
burglaries across the region, authorities said.

Last month, the Orange County district attorney's office charged three
Los Angeles residents -- Garzon Diaz, Louis Lopez and John
Rodriguez -- with burglary and grand theft in connection with 28 cases in
which thieves broke into vehicles and stole computers from customers
who had visited Apple retail stores.

Manhattan
Beach Police Sgt. Brian Brown said Tuesday that detectives were continuing their investigation into 15 similar cases since September in
which laptops and desktop computers were stolen from vehicles of
customers of the Apple Store at the
Village Mall on Sepulveda Boulevard.

The suspects sought by Manhattan Beach police had a specific method of
operation, Brown said. They stake out an Apple store and choose their
target. Then they follow their prospective victims when they drive to
another shop or a parking spot near their
home. If computers are left unattended inside the vehicle, the
thieves strike.

His
department issued a warning to consumers Tuesday not to
leave computers or other expensive items in their vehicles in plain
view.

"It's a highly preventable crime if people don't leave computers in their cars," Brown said.

But law enforcement officials said despite the arrests in Orange
County, they believe these follow-away burglaries are the work of a
larger ring that has taken more than 100 computers in Los Angeles,
Orange and Ventura counties.

"We are looking into whether all
cases are connected to the same crime ring," said Orange County
sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino.

The suspects who were charged in the Orange County cases were
caught when they tried to break into a car with a computer
purchased by an undercover police officer at the Apple Store at the
Shops at Mission Viejo. The cases in that series of crimes began in December 2008.

None
of the computers have been recovered by Orange County authorities,
suggesting "they are being shipped out of the country or fenced right
away," Amormino said.

Amormino said he had heard of similar
cases in Los Angeles County including Glendale and in Ventura County,
and said investigators were comparing notes.

He said law
enforcement officials from around the region would be meeting "to
compare notes about the possibility they are dealing with a larger
ring."